Welcome to +972’s Sunday Recap!

After the Israeli Knesset passed a death penalty law last week that targets Palestinians, Orly Noy, Local Call editor, wrote about what Israelis can learn from the nightmares of an Iranian hangman — drawing on an interview with an executioner who served the security unit of the Iranian prison service.

Psy-op campaigns, selective leaks, exclusive reporter access: Soldiers and journalists spoke to Illy Pe’ery, an investigative reporter at the Israeli magazine The Hottest Place in Hell, to reveal how the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit controls public discourse and promotes Israel’s narrative abroad.

Samah Watad reported on a new, worrying trend on TikTok: Palestinians in Israel now find themselves a scroll away from organized crime. Videos of luxury cars, cash, masked motorcyclists, and veiled threats have drawn over 100 million views, amplifying criminal power far beyond the street.

For Palestinians in the West Bank, as Ghaith J. experienced, traveling abroad has become a humiliating ordeal. When he travelled to Istanbul in December, Israel closed the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan without any warning — turning his journey into 36 hours of missed flights, uncertainty, and endless waiting.

And in a photo essay, Nissi Peli portrayed how hypermilitarism pervades everyday life in Israel. From the sacred to the mundane, military imagery suffuses the Israeli public sphere — shaping Israelis’ imagination, desires, and collective identity.

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